11 beta-hydroxy-17-ethynyl testosterone and esters thereof



United States Patent F Ilp-HYDROXY-U-ETHYNYL TESTOSTERONE-3;

AND nsrnns rnnnnow Iack-W. Rails, MortonGrove, Ill.,,assignor,-by;mesnctassignments, .to- G... 11.1 Searle & Co., Skukie, 111., a corporation of Delaware.

No Drawing. Application May 25, 1953, Serial No; 357,331

CE "I 0..

where R is a hydrogen or. a lower acyl group such as acetyl, propionyl or benzoyl;

The literature has describedmethods by which a steroid naturally occurring in the adrenal gland, 17-hy droxydesoxycort-icosterone, can be perfused through a-surviving mammalian adrenal gland andthereby; be "converted to l7-hydroxycorticostcrone.= The present application shows the applicability of this process tocertain synthetic steroids knownto be non-existent in the animal organism, i. e., testosterone derivatives containing a hydrocarbon radical in the 17-.position; While the compounds of s e t n. fifereensidetablyzinstructure tromthose f thez a tive adrenocorticoidhormones-of the.neoglycogenetic .type, especiallytbecaus'e of. their lack: ofi 'a l7- glycolyl side chain, it,has-'been foundthat these sub- 2,740,798 P t n edApr- 3.195s

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sterone by the chromatpg ffiphifial method shown in the experimental part below, followed bya mild acetylation with pyridineandacetic anhydride', yields a .lfiacetoxy derivative which is. identical with the l'l-acetoxy-l'lfethynyl-l1=hydroxy 4-androsten&3 one prepared bythe method shown in Example 1. The procedure isjlikewise applicable oa a yl d 'e sas n. the ease v0t th p paration of v17=ethypyl-l1hYdfQXytestosterine-17-benZQate.

This experimentalpart illustrates in detail some of vthe preferred methods'olIfpracticingthe invention, However, it is not to be construed as limited thereby in spirit or in scope since it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications in materials and methods may be practiced without departing from the invention. In the examples amounts of materials are indicated as parts'byweighth Example 1 A solution of one .part of l'l-ethynyltestosterone acetate in 42 parts of 1,2-propanediol is added to 5000 parts of citrated bovine blood and 5000 parts of citrated Tyrode tour. hours. Theblood. i then hemoly ed yuc ess v freez g nd hawin and he: resul ng, materi l s e tracted zwith. iisoprop -a e ater. The xtractisv sh with.. t r ,dried y azeotropic d stillat on n ro n' trated. at redueed-zpressure in atnitrogen tmo p ere to a-resi ueotiQ p rts: The-re u t n o ut n. is dilu ed stances show a potent corticoid hormonal action and that theyare reticuloendotheli'al stimulants. In the preparation of the claimed convenient to use an ester of the type OH Ill 0 compounds it is as the starting material. This ester is dissolved in blood, taking precautions against blood clotting and infection of the glands, and perfused repeatedly through surviving mammalian adrenal glands.

The preparation of the free 17-hydroxy compound is achieved most conveniently by perfusing a 17-acyloxy derivative, such as l7-ethynyl-l7-acetoxy-4-androsten-3-one and subjecting the perfusion product to mild alkaline hydrolysis. The perfusion of the 17-ethynyltestosterone is relatively more difiicult because of its poor solubility. However, isolation of the l1-hydroxy-17-ethynyltestowith 1.9.timesi savol meot'b nze andra red nto a chromatography column containing parts of silica gel, The column is eluted -with,a.,-seri es of SOD-part portions of benzene and ethyl acetate mixtures. Elution with four suchportions of 91*1 mixture of benzene and ethyl acetate .yields unconverted):llaethynyltestosterone acetate. The

column is, next eluted with "two portions of. a 4:1 mixture ofbenzene and ethyl -acetate and two portionsjof a 2:1 mixture of nz neand ;e1 hy1 cetate. The second 4:1 elu t andth'e first 2;..1 ,elua e. are combined and ev porated. Crys all zation. of heresid e. fr m a mixture of e h ce ate d. pe rol mv her.- vi lds lfl-hydroxyz ethynyltestosterone acetate: 45; the following A: structural form la.- v

Ill

This compound occurs in two polymorphic crystalline modifications, one melting at about l74-l75.5 C. and the other at about 218-221 C. A methanolic solution shows an ultraviolet absorption maximum at about 242 millimicrons with a molecular extinction coeflicient of 15,800. The infrared absorption curve shows maxima at 2.78, 3.03, 5.75, 6.05, and 8.02 microns characteristic for the hydroxyl, ethynyl, acetyl, conjugated carbonyl and acetyl radicals, respectively. A 1% chloroform solution shows a specific optical rotation [a]n ==+60. The compound does not give a positive test with blue tetrazolium and does not readily form a diacetate which indicates that the ll-hydroxy group is in the p-position.

Further elution with mixtures of benzene and ethyl acctate, containing increasing quantities of ethyl acetate up to a 1:9 ratio and final elution with acetone, yields a series of yellowish glasses and oils the nature of which has not as yet been established with certainty.

Example 2 l7-ethynyltestosterone is perfused by the procedure of Example 1 and the perfusate is separated by the same method indicated there. The 11,8-hydroxy-l7-ethynyltestosterone thus obtained, crystallized from 2-propanol, melts at about 281-282 C. A methanolic solution shows an ultraviolet absorption maximum at about 242 millimicrons with a molecular extinction coefiicient of 16,000. A 0.5% methanol solution shows a specific optical rotation [u] =+62. The compound has the structural formula OH; I on m -orr H O I Example 3 A solution of one part of 17a-methyltestosteronc in 42 parts of propylene glycol is added to a mixture of 5000 parts of citrated beef blood and 5000 parts of a Tyrode solution containing 5000 parts of glucose. This mixture is passed through fifteen surviving bovine adrenal glands for six cycles at 36.437 C. while the pH is maintained at 6.61-6.90. The perfusate is hemolyzed by freezing and thawing and then extracted with isopropyl acetate. The extract is washed with water, dried by azeotropic distillation and then concentrated at reduced pressure in a nitrogen atmosphere to a residue of 20 parts. 380 parts of benzene are added and the resulting solution is poured into a chromatography column containing 95 parts of silica gel. The column is first eluted with two SOO-part portions of a 9:1 mixture of benzene and ethyl acetate and then with two SOD-part portions of a 4:1 and two 500-part portions of a 2:1 mixture of benzene and ethyl acetate. Concentration of the last four eluates yields unconverted starting material. After further elution with two 500-part portions of 1:1 mixtures the column is eluted with two additonal SOO-part portions of a 1:1 mixture and one 500-part portion of 1:2 mixture of henzene and ethyl acetate. Concentration of the eluates yields a yellowish, partly solid residue which, on crystallization from ethyl acetate, yields 1lfi-hydroxy-17amethyltestosterone melting at about 209.521l.5 C. A methanolic solution shows an ultraviolet maximum at about 242 millimicrons with a molecular extinction coefiicient of 15,100. The infrared spectrum shows a maximum at 2.95 microns indicating the presence of the hydroxy group and at 6.05 microns indicating the presence of the conjugated carbonyl group. Under mild acetylation conditions, using acetic anhydride and pyridine at room temperature, the compound does not form an acetate. The test for an a-ketol with blue tetrazolium is negative.

I claim:

1. An lip-hydroxy steroid of the structural formula CE I C References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,646,434 Bernstein July 21, 1953 2,666,015 Pincus et al. Jan. 12, 1954 Hechtor et al Jan. 12, 1954 OTHER REFERENCES Hechtor et al.: Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 71, pp. 3261-2. 

1. AN 11B-HYDROXY STERIOD OF THE STRUCTURAL FORMULA 